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Bacteria beware – a new innovation from a New Hampshire company offers nearly a 100% solution for blocking bacteria from the body! Foss Manufacturing’s new surgical mask won top honors as the New Hampshire High Technology Council’s 2011 Product of the Year (POY).

The Foss Manufacturing team was honored for their accomplishments at last evening's NH High Tech Council 2011 Product of the Year event. Photo by Matt Lomanno.

Foss, a Hampton-based company that produces engineered, non-woven fabrics and specialty syntheticfibers won the 2011 POY award for the SpectraShield 9500 N95 Surgical Respirator Mask. The mask, which features Foss’ revolutionary Fosshield embedded antimicrobial technology, eliminates 99.99% of bacteria on the treated surface within one hour and certain strains of harmful bacteria on contact before they can enter the body.

At the 6th annual event held on November 14th, a large audience that included Governor John Lynch was on hand as the NHHTC honored the top five companies competing for the POY award with Judges Awards. Those five finalists were selected by the judges from a larger pool of candidates in October. The five displayed their products during a reception before the evening event, and then made seven-minute pitches as part of their effort to encourage the audience to vote for their product. The popular vote and previous judging by a panel of business and technology experts were equally weighed, and Foss Manufacturing took top honors for 2011.

Bill Hurst, VP of Business Development at Foss, said he was excited to present the SpectraShield at the POY banquet because, “it provides a unique opportunity to highlight this key breakthrough technology that has a distinct benefit for society.” Speaking about the SpectraShield Mask and Fosshield technology, Hurst said Foss’ focus is, “to not only provide but extend this technology for everyday use for us, our family members, in our clothing, when we travel – there is such a broad range of applications.”

The winner earned the prestigious NHHTC Product of the Year crystal trophy, which was designed by Pepi Hermann. The Foss Manufacturing name will be added to the trophy, and the trophy and an exhibit of the winning product will be on display and the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport for one year.

Companies that have won the Product of the Year award over the past five years were Nanocomp Technologies, UltraVision, Insight Tech Gear, Holase, Incorporated, and Sky-Skan. Major event sponsors include Dyn,Inc, FairPoint, Cook, Little, Rosenblatt & Manson PLLC, Hanover Insurance Group, Sadler Insurance Agency, New England Investment and Retirement, and BAE Systems. For more information go to www.nhhtc.org.

The 2011 Product of the Year (POY) judges selected five companies as finalists for top honors for their technology-related products or services. These five companies will received the POY Judges Award at the POY event and will make their final pitch for top honors in front of a large audience on November 14th at the NH High Technology Council (NHHTC) 6th annual 2011 Product of the Year event and banquet.

Judge’s Award Winners and finalists for 2011 are Foss Manufacturing, iGlobe, Integra, Russound, and Scribe Software. At this unique event, each of the finalists will have their product and service on display during the reception, and will make a seven-minute live pitch to the audience. After the pitches, the winner will be selected based on both the audience and the judge’s evaluation. The POY event will be held at the Radisson Hotel-Center of NH in Manchester and registration is now open.

What follows is a brief description of each product:

Foss Manufacturing, Hampton, NH

Product: The SpectraShield™ 9500 N95 Surgical Respirator Mask with Foss Manufacturing’s Fosshield embedded antimicrobial technology is the first antibacterial respirator mask to receive FDA 510K and NIOSH clearance. The SpectraShield™ Respirator eliminates 99.99% of bacteria on the treated surface within one hour against certain strains of harmful bacteria, including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Streptococcus on contact before they can enter the body. This revolutionary next generation respirator meets CDC and WHO guidelines for infectious disease exposure control, is ideal for pandemic preparedness and gives healthcare workers the best available long-duration protection against infectious diseases, especially Healthcare Acquired Infections (HAIs).

iGlobe, Franklin, NH

Product: iGlobe PersonalPlanet is an educational 3D spherical display technoilogy that engages viewers with lifelike simulations of Earth and other celestrial bodies. PersonalPlanet’s cutting edge 3D graphics and innovative user interface provide exceedingly high resolution, vibrant colors and unmatched affordability in a desktop or wall mounted display. The PersonalPlanet’s wireless iPad controller provides a cutting edge user experience. The user may choose from a large library of scientific datasets and full feature spherical films produced byNASA and NOAA. PersonalPlanet also allows the user to view Erath as seen from space in real time with 12 weather layers to choose from.

INTEGRA North America, Hudson, NH

Product: INTEGRA’s VIAFLO 96 introduces a completely new concept in 96 channel pipetting for Life Science Research. The intuitive user interface and the servo motor assisted handling, make the VIAFLO 96 as easy and effortless to use as any single channel pipette. Four different pipetting heads are available which can be interchanged in a matter of only seconds allowing the scientist to perform a wide set of applications with volumes ranging between 0.5 and 1250l. For the first time the combination of these features make 96 well pipetting accessible and affordable to any laboratory.

Russound, Newmarket NH

Product: Russound’s DMS-3.1 digital media streamer provides network-based digital music to a Russound C-Series multiroom audio system. With 3 streaming players in one chassis, multiple users can simultaneously enjoy their favorite music. Unique in its class, the DMS-3.1 is an Apple certified AirPlay accessory. It will play audio received via AirPlay from iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad(s) along with computers using iTunes software. It will also stream digital audio directly from connected USB drives, network connected computers, and DLNA / UPnP compliant drives. When connected to the internet, the DMS-3.1 streams internet radio and content from various popular online music services.

Scribe Software, Manchester, NH

Product: Scribe is #1 in CRM integration and our newest platform, Scribe Online, helps companies make sense of customer data in the cloud. By bringing together email, social media such as Twitter and Facebook, back office and front office data, Scribe gives companies the information they need to improve customer service, grow sales, innovate new products and make better business decisions. Secure, reliable and built using the latest technology along with our deep integration experience, Scribe Online connects customer data quickly and easily in the cloud. With over 12,000 customers and 900 partners Scribe has proven leadership in data integration.

“We’re seeing some great innovations in New Hampshire, and the Product of the Year event process provides some great visibility to all of our participants. We’re looking forward to a terrific event on November 14th and greatly appreciate the time commitment made by our esteemed judges: Jeff Pollock, Jeffrey Sercel, Jim St. Jean, Dave Todaro, and Steve Varga, top New Hampshire technologists, entrepreneurs andinvestors,” said Art Bruinooge, member of the NHHTC Board of Directors and POY event chair.

The event is one of very few that requires audience engagement and participation, as the entire audience casts their vote for their top product after the presentations are made. The audience vote counts towards 50% of the final tabulation and the initial judge’s vote counts for the remaining 50%. The winner will be announced at the conclusion of the event and will earn the prestigious NHHTC Product of the Year crystal trophy, which was designed for the Council by Pepi Hermann. The trophy and the finalist’s winning product will be on display in a highly visible location at the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.

Companies that have won the Product of the Year award over the pastfour years were Nanocomp Technologies, UltraVision, Insight Tech Gear, Holase, Incorporated, and Sky-Skan. Major event sponsors include Dyn,Inc, Fairpoint, Cook, Little, Rosenblatt & Manson PLLC, Hanover Insurance Group, Sadler Insurance Agency, PSNH, and New England Investment and Retirement. Additional sponsorships are available. For more information and to register, go to www.nhhtc.org.